Adult Education Spring 2019

Sunday Morning Education Hour has some great offerings for adults to grow, stretch, deepen and ground their faith and practice. Adults of every age and stage are welcome – young adults to senior citizens. Some courses are three or four weeks and some last for several months. We try to address these broad themes: Bible Study, Big Questions, Equipping the Saints, Life and Nurture, Mission, Spirituality, and The Twenty-First Century.

Classes begin promptly at 9:30 a.m., so come and grab your coffee or tea at the Wake-Up Station, and join a conversation! Classes conclude by 10:25 a.m., so that if you are a person who attends the 10:30 a.m. service, you have enough time to gather for worship.

New classes this Spring:

All classes run April 28 through May 19 – join at any time!

Play Reading and Discussion: Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman – led by Marla Blasko

In October 1998, Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old University of Wyoming student, was tied to a fence post, beaten and left alone to die. The reason for this crime, Matthew was gay. Based on news reports, court documents, and interviews with the Laramie townspeople who were struggling to understand this hate-crime, the Tectonic Theatre Project created a theatrical piece, The Laramie Project. Try something new! Join Long Reach High School theatre arts teacher, Marla Blasko to read this powerful play aloud, and reflect on the ways a social justice piece of theatre can serve as a tool for healing. Click here to purchase a copy of the script.

Histories and Mysteries: the Rise of Islam and the First Crusade – taught by Bill Burris

Much of the strife and violence of our current world has roots in the Crusades. The tension between Western Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, the long running animosity between Islam and Christianity, and even to some degree the schism between Sunni and Shia Islam are all exacerbated by the Crusades. Many lessons of the First Crusade present warnings to us now regarding the use of religion to reach secular goals, and the dangers of false prophets. Yet, out of the terrible crucible of the violence and wasted life a new Europe was formed. A Europe primed for renaissance and religious reformation.

Let’s go back and cast at least a cursory glance at the First Crusade, and see how the path of Christian Faith was altered by the tumult of the times.

Setting the Stage, Part I: Islam and the Holy Land

Setting the Stage, Part II: Barbarian Europe

Act One: The Call

Act Two: The Wall

Act Three: The Fall

Ongoing classes:

The Bible in Depth: Isaiah – facilitated by Doyle Nichols

This lively conversational study is reading through the literature of the Old Testament. All are invited to jump right in!

Young Adult Games & Conversation – facilitated by Brian & Ann

Out of high school and no idea what to do? Home on break? First job and lots of questions? Come join other post-high-school, college, & post-college young adults for a time of fellowship, conversation, and board games as we navigate the perils of being an adult!